WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- State and federal authorities announced the creation of a "strike force" aimed at addressing organized crime in and around the Bakken oil field.
"The strike force will have the capability of not only dismantling local criminal organizations in the Bakken, but also to take out the national and international components of these organizations wherever they may be located," acting U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota Chris Myers said in a statement.
North Dakota last year received a $3 million federal grant to help address crime in the western part of the state, where much of the Bakken and Three Forks oil reserves are situated. State lawmakers complained, however, that FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency officials aren't stationed permanently in Williston, the heart of the state's oil boom, to the frustration of local law enforcement agents.
The federal Department of Justice said the strike force will focus on organized crime in areas in and around the shale oil field, including human trafficking, drug and weapons trafficking, and white collar crimes.
The North Dakota Attorney General's office said the total number of violent crimes increased 7.4 percent and accounted for 9.9 percent of total index crimes reported in 2013, the last full year for which data are reported. A public service announcement from the Montana government, meanwhile, seeks to raise awareness on human trafficking in the state, which the state says amounts to a de facto sex trade.
The FBI said it's in the process of building a new office in Williston, N.D., a city at the heart of the regional oil boom. Once opened, it will house a federally funded crime task force. Additional agents, meanwhile, were recently assigned to the region.
"The Bakken's criminal impact transcends borders and so should our law enforcement response," U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter for the District of Montana said.
